Jay Leno drives Steve McQueen’s vintage Jaguar

Steve McQueen is the King of Cool, and his stunning Jaguar is definitely fit for a king

By Jodi Lai

Originally published: May 26, 2014

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

The latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage features “one of the most exciting cars in the history of the automobile,” Leno says — Steve McQueen’s 1956 Jaguar XKSS.

Certainly one of the most gorgeous cars ever, the British racing green Jaguar is a stunner, but its celebrity connection makes it even more interesting than it already is.

The famous Jaguar, on loan to Leno from the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, once belonged to the Hollywood icon, who loved all types of cars, motorcycles, planes and trains and was a very capable race car driver.

Leno almost seems starstruck by the Jaguar, and goes into fits of just repeating, “Oh my god. Oh my god,” during his drive. He is shocked by how stable it feels, saying that even modern cars don’t feel as good as the Jaguar does.

This particular right-hand-drive car, based on the legendary D-Type, is estimated to be worth about $25-million to $30-million. Yes, you read that right. Rated at about 250 horsepower, it was ridiculously fast by 1950’s standards, but can still considered fast even today.

One unique feature of this Jaguar is that Steve McQueen had a special compartment made to store his sunglasses and cigarettes. (Leno says McQueen’s sunglasses also sold for $70,000, which puts some perspective on why his car commands such as high price.)

Watch the episode below and prepare to crush even harder on Steve McQueen: